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Our Motorcycle BLOG - hope you enjoy
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Jorge Lorenzo - year so far Jorge Lorenzo has been enjoyable to watch this season, beginning every event from the front row, racing his legendary rival
Valentino Rossi to the limit and forwarding on past Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa in the rankings in only his second premier
session campaign.
The Spaniard began the year with a strong third placing in the Monday evening event at
the Losail International Circuit behind Stoner and Rossi, having taken off from third on the grid.
It wasn't
long though before he claimed his first win of the season storming to glory at the Polini Grand Prix of Japan. Again beginning
from third, Lorenzo took the second premier class victory of his career by a two second margin over his team-mate Rossi to
put himself at the top of the standings.
Visiting Jerez, Lorenzo commented that racing amongst the Spanish spectators
in Andalusia was enabling him to ride on the edge and take risks for the glory, however he smashed out with five laps left
as he tried to chase Stoner down for third spot, it was a challenging task for the young Majorcan, particularly as he celebrated
his 22nd birthday the next day.
The confident Yamaha champion came back strong in France two weeks later, as he
handled the wet-dry event perfectly, crossing the line in first place, while Rossi was placed in 16th spot.
Stoner
then took charge from Lorenzo at the head with a brilliant victory for Ducati at Mugello in the next event, with Lorenzo placed
second in front of a disgruntled Rossi at a track where the Italian had not lost since 2001.
Next will be remembered
as one of the best events in years. Lorenzo began on pole and with Rossi just following him in second place on the starting
grid, the Yamaha duo challenged a massive battle throughout the event, with the title holder needing all of his skill and
experience to beat Lorenzo on the last corner for one of his greatest acheivement victories.
Assen was not as close,
with Lorenzo making a disappointing start to the race after qualifying third and was unable to make up ground to winner Rossi.
Yet, another second placing with arguably the best competitor in history is not a bad effort.
Arriving back to
the scene of an amazing first lap smash last year, Lorenzo improved in the 2009 race of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, finishing
over the line in third behind Pedrosa and Rossi, with only his second event at the tricky Laguna Seca circuit.
Another
close challenge with Rossi at Sachsenring, which again went down to the wire ending with Lorenzo in second spot again, meaning
that The Doctor had gained a 14 point lead over his young competitor by the time MotoGP came to Donington Park for the final
time.
In wet weather conditions at the British circuit, Lorenzo was caught by the rain as he smashed out when heading
the event, though Rossi could only claim fifth spot, having crashed himself and remounted. There was more disappointment
to come at Brno, Lorenzo crashed and took another DNF in the Czech Republic as Rossi claimed his fifth victory of the year
to take on a 50 point championship advantage.
The game wasn't over yet, Lorenzo hit back hard with another
fantastic performance at Indianapolis where Rossi claimed his own DNF of the year, the gap was back to 25 points with only
five rounds left.
Rossi was outperformed at Mugello earlier this year for the sole time in seven years, Lorenzo
kept the pressure on claiming his fifth second placing of the current campaign. Other than his three DNFs at Jerez, Donington
and Brno, Lorenzo has placed on the stage at every other Grand Prix so far this season.
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11:34 pm est
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Pedrosa year so far Dani Pedrosa’s ideal formations for the 2009 MotoGP World Championship were disrupted dramatically when he smashed out
in the night testing done in Qatar in March, causing injuries to his left knee and wrist, surgery was needed a month prior
to round one.
Coming back to the Losail International Circuit not as fit as he would have hoped for the Commercialbank
Grand Prix of Qatar in April, Pedrosa was only able to manage 11th in the event resulting from a ‘coming together’
with Alex de Angelis, who qualified in 14th position.
The Catalan competitor was back in fine form in
Japan at round two, though still not 100%, he took his RC212V over the line in third spot even though he began 11th
on the grid.
Further results at home saw Pedrosa build on his Japanese stage appearance a week later at Jerez,
where he claimed the lead for 17 laps, finally ending second. In a difficult wet-dry event at Le Mans, Pedrosa held
off colleague Andrea Dovizioso in the final laps for third spot and another successive podium.
Pedrosa then moved
in a downward spiral when he smashed out at Mugello, damaging his hip in practice, but raced through the agony at home in
Barcelona to place sixth, then crashing out again early at Assen. By this time he had dropped to fifth in the overall rankings.
Pedrosa responded with force after this with his first win in over a year at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.
Germany two weeks later saw him on the stage for the fifth time this season, he could not maintain the pace with Fiat
Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, who both stay well ahead of him in the rankings. Pedrosa challenged Stoner for
third place in that event, a fight he chased as illness took a toll for Stoner.
Though Pedrosa earned points on
Stoner in the Aussie’s final event to date this season at the British Grand Prix, when Ducati had their wheel choices
wrong, the Repsol Honda racer could only manage to place ninth on the slippery circuit at Donington. The event also gained
a sole ever MotoGP win for Pedrosa’s team-mate Dovizioso and a first stage apperance of the season for Colin Edwards,
both competitors closed in at the rankings.
Pedrosa’s inconsistency has carried on in the prior three events,
however he gained two stage appearances at Brno and Misano, ending in a disappointing tenth spot at Indianapolis where he
smashed on the fourth lap after leading a competition where he begain on pole, making him scrap for as many points as acheivable.
Stoner’s absence has given Pedrosa a move up to third overall, only seven points separate the duo as the Aussie
arrives back to the circuit at Estoril to challenge with the Spaniard for the final four rounds.
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9:50 pm est
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Season so far for Stoner Casey Stoner’s excellent beginning to the 2009 MotoGP World Championship at Losail International Circuit issued
no indication of the disrupted year that awaited him in the following months.
The young Aussie started well
with pole position securing his first qualifying session of the year plus a hat-trick of continuing victories at Qatar finishing
the first Monday night MotoGP event, followed by rain which prevented the due Sunday night challenge.
In round
two in Japan, Stoner was not able to repeat his success after beginning poorly from second on the grid, he was only able to
challenge back enough to take a fourth placing, thus giving his early lead to Jorge Lorenzo.
At the Gran Premio
bwin.com de España, he finished over the line in third place for his sole Jerez stage appearance, following was the
event in France then he fought hard in the wet weather conditions at Le Mans to place fifth in a difficult competition.
The results put Stoner equal on points with Valentino Rossi in second place in the rankings, followed by Lorenzo.
Next was Mugello, the home of Ducati and a track where nobody was able to beat Italian champion Rossi since 2001. In another
wet-dry challenge, the competitors had another opportunity to swap engines mid-race and it was Stoner who got it correct,
giving Ducati their first premier class winy at the Tuscan arena.
Round six at Catalunya was a major weekend in
Stoner’s successful year but disappointingly for the wrong reason. A difficult event saw Rossi beat Lorenzo
on the last corner with a tired Stoner arriving in third place, just holding off Andrea Dovizioso for the last stage
slot.
The positions equalled Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner in a three-way draw for top position, but Stoner was affected
by an illness and pushed his body that hard in the event that he needed medical attention prior to appearing on the podium.
Alarm bells were sounding at Assen 2 weeks later when Stoner placed third again behind Rossi and Lorenzo, again suffering
from exhaustion, he fell to third in the rankings. The 23 year-old underwent fast examinations by Dr Claudio Macchiagodena
from the Clinica Mobile, trying to rehydrate him and recover in due time for California’s demanding Laguna Seca circuit.
With the first US visit of the season, Stoner again was detained by his illness in the final third of the event and
could not challenge to his well known best. Following winner Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha duo Rossi and Lorenzo, Stoner fell short
in the remaining laps and placed fourth.
Stoner then stayed behind in California for a culmination of medical tests,
however doctors could not find a remedy for a diagnosis of slight gastritis and mild anemia.
With another
courageous effort in Germany, he tried to fight his way back into the challenge stakes, Stoner held the event lead for ten
laps but then seemed to be in wheel deterioration, rather than physical issues which stopped him from a due victory. He placed
fourth again followed the same threesome of competitors as Laguna.
Things got worse, the round at Donington Park
created some typical British summer weather and again a wet-dry circuit caused a tyre option to be crucial, Ducati got it
wrong as Stoner and his colleague Nicky Hayden went with ‘wets’ while the remainder of the grid began on dry tyres.
The circuit didnt get wet enough to use the selection and Stoner ended in 14th place.
After the British Grand Prix,
Ducati confirmed that Stoner required complete rest following consultation with doctors in Australia, he would skip the three
events at Brno, Indianapolis and Misano to allow his body to recover.
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11:11 pm est
Monday, September 21, 2009
Rossi heads BMW Award With only four rounds left in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship year, Valentino Rossi is due for double glory, claiming
a 30 point lead in the overall rankings plus a five point advantage in the BMW M Award rankings for best qualifier.
Commencing four of the final five events in pole position, Rossi has moved ahead of colleague Jorge Lorenzo in the
BMW M Award stakes, although the challenge for glory between the Fiat Yamaha duo seems set to go down to the wire.
Rossi enabled Lorenzo to claim the BMW M Award advantage earlier this year when he qualified off the front row in
three consecutive rounds, Jerez, Le Mans and Mugello, however his qualifying best has been brilliant since and his overall
record of six poles so far this year makes him a worthy leader in the standings.
Lorenzo could also be deserving
of winning the award if he is able to maintain his excellent record of qualifying on the front row at each Grand Prix this
season. He was on pole in his MotoGP debut last season in Qatar and has lead the grid four times this year, although
his final 2009 pole was at the start of July at Laguna Seca.
Following a dominant factory Yamaha duo in the hunt
for a BMW M prize, second placed Lorenzo by a 70 point margin meaning it is highly unlikely he will catch his rivals, is Repsol
Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. The competitor from Barcelona takes two poles so far this year and has been on the front row in
the prior four sessions, however his preseason brought along injuries which only allowed him to qualify 14th and 11th at the
opening two sessions in Qatar and Japan.
An extra 19 points following Pedrosa is 2008 BMW M Award victor Casey
Stoner who began the year in fine form with a victory from pole at Qatar in round one. Unfortunately he has skipped the last
three rounds which has taken him out of the running, though Stoner had only qualified off the front row twice this year prior
to his illness.
In fifth place is Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards, who places sixth in the World Championship
following 13 events. Edwards has qualified in either fifth, sixth or seventh place every time this season.
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9:05 pm est
Luthi on next year's ride Prior 125cc World Champion Thomas Luthi says his 2009 project to date has not been up to standards and is hoping to set
things right with a form change in the four events left this year.
The Swiss competitor has been disappointed
by three DNFs at Le Mans, Assen and Brno, putting him ninth in the rankings. He has taken top ten results but has not
been able to repeat any of the two stage appearances he claimed last year prior to sustaining injury at Indianapolis.
Previewing his current place in the championship Luthi states, “I mean for next year things are not yet clear. We
have not made the plans, so I don’t know what is going on, but for me the most important thing is really to
concentrate on this season. I want to really look forward to the last three or four races and concentrate on that
job.”
On his developments for next season after rumours of a possible split from current squad Emmi-Caffe
Latte, Luthi adds, “I am looking forward to Moto2 next year but there are still not really clear plans. I hope to continue
with the same team but it is too early to say anything about that.”
When asked about a move back to the 125cc
session where he claimed the title in 2005 and how successful Julián Simón’s move back down has
been successful, Luthi says, “I think I would say it’s not for me, but you never know.
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12:12 am est
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Dani Pedrosa climb to Mont Blanc Dani Pedrosa, Héctor Barberá and Dakar Rally victor Marc Coma united in a hike to the top of Mont Blanc
earlier this week, part of the ‘Desafío Extremo’ (Extreme Challenge) project given by Jesús
Calleja on Spanish television channel Cuatro TV.
Although winds of up to 70 km/h and a freezing climate
of minus 35ºC, the expedition began at 4am on Monday from the Gouter mountain refuge to take on the last 1,000m that
allowed them to the summit. The peak was reached following a four and a half hour climb.
The Gouter refuge is located
at an altitude of 3,817m where the group spent the night prior to setting off from a short stop at the inhospitable Vallot
emergency refuge on the way. The group trekked with ropes connecting them to one anotherand crossed narrow ridges, some only
40cm wide, with sheer winds carrying ice hitting them constantly along the way.
The last ascent was made with three
various rope types, Jesús Calleja was leading with Héctor Barberá, Dani Pedrosa, and Enrique
Calleja at the back of the group. Marc Coma was in the second group with cameraman Emilio Valdés, and
third was joined with Adolfo López, Jesús López and David Martínez Pato.
Suffering
the worst effects of the weather were Pedrosa and Barberá, both of them losing feeling in their hands and feet. The
same night only 25% of the 74 people climbing Mont Blanc, were able to reach the 4,810m summit, all of them being mountaineering
experts apart from the three sportsmen who continued on bravely, plus the fact that it was their sole ever high mountain trek.
After claiming the summit they had a further two hour descent to Gouter, where they relaxed for an hour before taking
on a gorge named ‘The Ravine of Death’, a descent that has added complications of rock avalanches. This descent
took them to the Tête Rousse refuge, 3,167m, where they rested for the evening. On Tuesday the hike returned to Chamonix
where they spent their last night before flying home.
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8:22 pm est
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
North Wales campaign Thousands of readers arrived to North Wales in the UK on Sunday, transforming the region into one massive bike festival
in one of MCN’s biggest projects ever.
Over 10,000 riders united in the attempt to reclaim the area’s
amazing streets from heavy handed police who prevent approximately 350 riders every weekend committing offences.
Around 5,000 people arrived at the Ponderosa Café on the landscaped Horseshoe Pass in Llangollen. Another 3,000
arrived at the Dragon’s Rest Café near Caerwys, which was another key meeting place.
Conlcuding,
approximately 10,000 riders converged at the last meeting point in Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia National Park , completing the
town with motorbikes.
One MCN reader described the situation as, “like the TT, Bol d’ Or and BMF Show
rolled into one.”
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8:28 pm est
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Shell Advance sponsor Shell Advance is an official sponsor of the factory Ducati MotoGP squad. The contract has arrived from an ongoing partnership
that has enabled a Shell Advance presence throughout the circuits by advertising projects at MotoGP races this year in Qatar,
Italy, Germany and the United States.
Dorna Sports S.L. Managing Director Pau Serracanta explains, “We are
delighted that the leading petroleum company in the world is supporting MotoGP as a Grand Prix title sponsor, in addition
to the support that they already provide via trackside advertising and their partnership with the official Ducati team. MotoGP
has a huge fan base in Malaysia and throughout Asia, so this agreement will give Shell Advance the opportunity to further
penetrate this highly important market.”
Tanmay Jaswal, Global Marketing Manager for Shell Advance states,
“We are extremely pleased to have reached this agreement to become title sponsor of the penultimate round of the 2009
FIM MotoGP World Championship. The Malaysian MotoGP is an exciting annual event for the whole of Asia and one that Shell Advance
is very proud to support. Shell already enjoys a successful technical partnership with Ducati Corse in MotoGP, a close relationship
which provides Ducati with cutting edge lubricants and fuels, and allows our technicians to continuously transfer learnings
from the racetrack to the road. This title sponsorship provides us with an ideal platform to strengthen our existing MotoGP
presence as we seek to communicate with MotoGP fans and our customers in markets across Asia.”
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8:20 pm est
Monday, September 14, 2009
Electric drag motorbike Team Blackswan are a UK based company currently developing many electric motorbike projects, including the manufacture
of a 1000bhp lithium electric drag motorbike.
The bike is being used as a rolling test bed to expand the
powerplant for the boat and car, also attemtping to take on the Americans Kilacycle which in Scotty Pollacheck’s
hands has run a 7.89s @ 168mph standing quarter-mile.
Team Blackswan’s boss Andrew Taylor states:
“Our drag-bike is aptly named the TeraCycle & can be seen running Shakespeare county & the Pod.”
Blackswan are also looking at building a cruiser road bike and a road racing machine.Taylor explains: “One
of the long term goals of the project is to design an electric motorcycle ‘fit for purpose’ and suitable
for mass production by a British company like Triumph."
Click here to read more
9:11 pm est
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Scot Racing combine with Acerbis Acerbis and Scot Racing have confirmed an agreement for the squad to apply the Acerbis X-Seat GP product exclusively
up to the end of next year.
The mono-block seat, made by the company situated in Albino (Italy), acheived its
debut on the satellite RC212V engine used by Gabor Talmacsi at the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.
The project stems from the 30 year experience of Acerbis with off-road motorbikes.
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8:35 pm est
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Apologies for Misano crash With time available to reflect on the shocking events at Misano on Sunday in an amazing 125cc event, Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.
competitor Andrea Iannone has given a sincere apology to Pol Espargaró for excluding him out on the last lap
and then seemingly headbutting the Spaniard.
The prior 125cc rankings leader was charged with a $5,000
fine by Race Direction straight after the event, however he then further boiled over the situation with harsh verbalisation
stated to the Italian and Spanish press.
On Monday though through a press release sent out by his squad, Iannone
explains, “I had been waiting for the Misano race for a long time and I had dreamed about achieving a good result in
front of the Italian fans, but the dream turned into a nightmare a few metres from the finishing line.
He adds,
“It was a great race, with both of us riding very correctly and with Pol Espargaró riding bravely, imposing his
rhythm right until the end. But on the last corner I felt confident and certain I could get past him. I broke really hard,
went on the inside, arrived at the apex and then when I thought I had got through the angle changed. I couldn’t do anything
at that point to avoid the crash and I took Pol out of the equation as he was going around the outside and he had no fault
in the crash. We hit the ground and all I could think of was that a big chance had been lost.”
“Then
when I went to apologise to Espargaró he understandably reacted with some strong words and punched my bike,”
Iannone says. “As Valentino Rossi said later I should have gone to apologise again but instead I lost my temper and
I did something which I will always regret for the rest of my life. When I went back to the pit-box there were several journalists
waiting for me and I made another mistake by saying some things in the heat of the moment which I really did not think. It
was something that happened because of the intensity of the moment, after such a dramatic end to an amazingly close race.”
“On Sunday night, thinking through everything that had happened I was ashamed about what had happened with Pol
and the things I said to the media afterwards. I have to say that I really appreciate Pol’s qualities as a rider, he
is very fast and, like me, he tries to do the very best job he can. I want to apologise to everyone, to my team, to my sponsors
and all fans of motorcycle racing. I am sure this will not happen again,” ended the 20 year-old.
Click here to read more
9:36 pm est
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Mika Kallio on his performance With what is considered to be his final factory Ducati race for this year at least, with Casey Stoner is rumoured to be back
on the circuit in Portugal at the commencement of the next round of the MotoGP World Championship. Mika Kallio took
his opportunity fairly well on Sunday to sign off from the Ducati Marlboro squad with his best premier class result.
The MotoGP rookie finshed over the line in seventh place, and was only less than four seconds away from fourth placed Andrea
Dovizioso at the finale of the event, an addition to his eighth placing at Indianapolis, he came back from his Brno DNF on
the factory Desmosedici.
Commening on the event, Kallio states, “I think we can be quite happy, because that
was the best result so far this season and also fourth place was not so far away, just a few seconds ahead of me. I got away
ok but the first two corners were not so good as a few guys crashed in front of me and I lost a few positions there so it
was difficult to catch the guys ahead of us.”
On his experience with the factory squad overall he adds,
“It was more or less how I expected, of course I hoped that we could get better results, because in Brno I crashed
with Marco Melandri and at Indianapolis I didn’t have too much confidence on the bike so we weren’t that
fast there, but here at Misano everything was already at a better level, so the confidence was coming back lap by
lap.
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8:49 pm est
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Dovizioso successful effort The Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini was a vital weekend for Andrea Dovizioso, with the talented
youngster being announced as a Repsol Honda competitor for next season prior to Sunday’s race, amongst a capacity
crowd of passionate Italians.
Dovizioso’s home town of Forli is only a one hour drive from the Misano
track and he had ample family and friends cheering him on from the stands as he challenged with another popular Italian hero
in the remaining laps, eventually placing fourth by outdoing the veteran Suzuki racer on the last lap by only two-tenths of
a second.
Dovizioso had worked hard over the weekend to use his fresh Ohlins suspension system onto the factory
RC212V, showing that he was not racing at 100% until the event itself, having placed down in eighth spot.
Dovizioso has finished fourth now on six seperate occasions this season, thrice in the prior three events, however this
time the placing was good enough to take him above Colin Edwards in the rankings to fifth spot overall.
Concluding
his home event, Dovizioso says, “I’m reasonably happy with this weekend. This was the first time with
Ohlins and of course we couldn’t have the perfect set-up but this is just the start and I’m very confident
for the future. I’m happy too because I renewed my contract with Honda. This is my first year in the factory
Honda team and I feel that I still haven’t shown my full potential. I know the machine better now and we are
working together in preparation for next year.”
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9:42 pm est
Monday, September 7, 2009
Pedrosa on challenging event at Misano Following the same day he confirmed his renewing contract with HRC to stay with the factory Honda squad next season, Dani
Pedrosa attempted his best shot at the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, however could only come
up with a third placing at Misano.
The prior 250cc and 125cc World Champion gave a signature start and headed the
event early, but eventually was chased down by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, who seemed to gain an advantage in lap times
on their Yamaha M1 engines.
Commenting on the situation Pedrosa explains, “I gave it my maximum in the race.
I tried to do everything I could and I wanted to stay with them (Rossi and Lorenzo) at the beginning, but in the middle of
the race I started to go slower and they were just faster. They were braking better and cornering better, so I couldn’t
keep up with them.”
At the conclusion of the event, the Barcelona racer had to be taken back to the pits
by colleague Catalan Toni Elías after his engine cut out on the warm down lap. Pedrosa says, “From the
beginning I had some misfiring on a couple of corners and in the end I was very lucky because my bike stopped on
the ‘in-lap’ and it was very strange. I don’t know if it was lack of fuel or something else, but
I think I was lucky to finish the race and get third!
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9:04 pm est
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Rossi blocks out Indy crash Unable to complete a race for the sole time since 2007 was not an ideal scenario for Valentino Rossi following his upcoming
home event at this weekend’s Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, however with a 25 point advantage
and the home spectators behind him completely, it could have been worse.
Competing immediately after his Brickyard
DNF will allow the Italian champion an opportunity to rid the demons and put the challenges back on his Fiat Yamaha colleague
Jorge Lorenzo, who holds Rossi’s MotoGP crown at present, particularly so that Rossi was a winner at Misano last season.
Previewing the action this weekend and with the circuit being a short travel from his home town of Tavullia, Rossi
says, “I’m glad we don’t have long until the next race because I quickly want to forget the mistake of Indianapolis!
Last year at Misano was incredible, to win in front of all my fans and so close to home was a great emotion and after missing
out in Mugello this year we are really focused on trying to get the best result there.”
Click here to read more
10:58 pm est
Thursday, September 3, 2009
New Yamaha YZF-R125 launch Stated as the company’s “most advanced 125 production supersport machine ever”, Yamaha has confirmed
that the 2009 Yamaha YZF-R125 will be due showrooms from late September.
Engineered by the same production
as crew as the YZF-R6 and the champion YZF-R1, the R125 exceeds brilliant technology derived from the company’s major
experience in MotoGP.
Torqued by a four-stroke, four-valve single-cylinder 125cc SOHC motor and dualled with a
six-speed gearbox, the YZF-R125 is sure to deliver optimum power throughout the range to maximum torque of 9000rpm.
Erected on a Deltabox frame with aluminium swing-arm, the R125 boasts lightweight five-spoke tyres, with a huge diameter
292mm front disc and 230mm rear disc.
With instant powerful response, the R125 has a compact fuel injection system
charged by a large-capacity airbox which unites with two inlet valves and delivers powerful intake efficiency and designed
throttle response over the range.
Also included is an R-series which is stylish and inspired from larger R1 and
R6 siblings, together with an R6-style mid-ship muffler, Yamaha states the R125 is “targeted at the discerning
buyer”.
Click here to read more
10:10 pm est
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Pol Espargaro dream Pol Espargaró’s initial Grand Prix win has been in waiting for a while now, given the outstanding form of the
18 year-old Spaniard and the five state appearances he has already taken prior to finally winning at Indianapolis on Sunday.
Espargaró came extremely close to that victory last season in the sole ever Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix
as he competed the race lead with Nico Terol and had passed him just prior to the event being stopped by wet weather, with
the ending places stripped from the competitors’ positions on the previous lap.
However it was Terol’s
turn to disappoint as he missed out on the stage although holding the lead for the majority of the competition, with Espargaró
smashing in due to an amazing final lap performance in which he held off Briton Bradley Smith and Italian Simone Corsi.
“I’m stll on cloud nine really and I’m just trying t let it sink in,” says the teenager after
the 125cc event. “I was quite nervous at the start and was taking a few risks in order to keep up with Terol, who had
a really fast machine. I managed to relax a bit and then we all just started to ride at an unbelievable pace, faster than
in practice.
He adds, “When I saw my name in first place on the big screens I started crying, because I feel
like I have deserved this win for a long time and for one reason or another it just hasn’t happened until now.”
Click here to read more
8:33 pm est
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Espargaro not satisfied A strong result from Aleix Espargaró on his debut MotoGP weekend allowed the Catalan competitor to get a grip with
the Desmosedici GP9 Sat in testing on Friday and Saturday, finally making an allowable performance in the event to place 13th
and gain three points.
Considering he had not qualified in final place and he was able to win over experienced
MotoGP competitor Gabor Talmacsi, he made history as the youngest sole Spanish competitor to race in a premier class event.
It was a good time for the elder Espargaró, with his younger brother Pol uniting with him on the grid prior
to the MotoGP event, himself achieving a triumph in the 125cc event earlier.
Afterwards Espargaró
says, “I started the race really well, but after only a few corners I was stuck in a group of riders and I
couldn’t manage to avoid Toni Elías. I am very sorry about that because Toni is a good friend of mine.
Anyway, I managed to get back on track quickly, but it wasn't easy to ride alone.”
He continues,
“I tried to maintain a good rhythm and at the end I got three points in my first MotoGP race, which is not
so bad.
Click here to read more
8:53 pm est
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